1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a watertight connector with a resilient plug.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 6,183,296 discloses a watertight connector with a one piece rubber plug. This connector has a housing with a plurality of cavities and an accommodation recess is formed in the rear end surface of the housing. A one-piece rubber plug is accommodated in the accommodation recess of the housing and has wire insertion holes at positions corresponding to the cavities. The rubber plug is pressed by a rubber-plug holder formed with window holes at positions corresponding to the cavities. Wires connected with terminal fittings are inserted through the wire insertion holes of the rubber plug. As a result, sealing is achieved between the outer peripheral surface of the rubber plug and the inner peripheral surface of the accommodation recess and between the inner peripheral surfaces of the wire insertion holes and the outer surface of the wires.
The rubber plug of the above-described watertight connector is deformed resiliently inward within the plane of the plug as the plug is being accommodated into the accommodation recess. As a result, a plurality of wire insertion holes in the rubber plug may be displaced from the cavities or the window holes. A plurality of wire insertion holes often are arranged side by side. In this situation, the wire insertion holes at the outermost positions are displaced most. The wire insertion holes that are displaced most can interfere sufficiently with the terminal fittings and the wires to impair insertion efficiency.
Thought has been given to forming grooves in the front and rear surfaces of the rubber plug between the outer periphery of the rubber plug and the outermost wire insertion holes. The grooves conceivably could absorb the deformation of the rubber plug and prevent the displacement of the wire insertion holes. However, the grooves would reduce the resilient force between the inner peripheral surface of the accommodation recess and the outer peripheral surface of the rubber plug. Therefore, the grooves could adversely affect sealing between the housing and the plug.
The invention was developed in view of the above problem, and an object thereof is to avoid reducing insertion efficiency when inserting terminal fittings and wires through a resilient plug and to ensure sealing between the housing and the resilient plug.